UMBC

Baltimore—UMBC Head Men’s Lacrosse Coach Don Zimmerman has announced the Retrievers’ 2009 schedule, which consists of four teams that earned berths in the 2008 NCAA Championships and six of which are ranked in Inside Lacrosse’s 2009 preseason top 20 poll.

Inside Lacrosse tabbed UMBC at No. 10, its highest preseason ranking to date for the Retrievers. Coach Zimmerman’s team is set to face IL’s No. 3 Maryland, No. 5 Johns Hopkins, No. 12 America East rival Albany, No. 13 Princeton, No. 17 Colgate and No. 20 Delaware. The Terrapins, Blue Jays, Raiders and Ohio State Buckeyes all competed in the 2008 championships.

UMBC opens the season at Delaware on Feb. 14, then begins a four-game homestand, which is capped by contests vs. former national champions Johns Hopkins (March 3) and Princeton (March 6) in a four-day span. The Retrievers open America East Conference play on March 28 at Stony Brook and close the regular season at home with “Senior Day” activities against Vermont on April 25. The four-team America East Men’s Lacrosse Championships, with an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament at stake, takes place on Thursday, April 30 and Saturday, May 2 at the No. 1 seed.

"The 2009 schedule will certainly test the character and ability of this year's squad,” Zimmerman said. “Facing six teams ranked in the Top 20, in addition to our always competitive America East Conference schedule, this year's Retriever squad must be prepared to work hard every day in practice, giving a dedicated and consistent effort to be ready for our opening game versus Delaware in Newark on February 14th."

The 2009 squad is set to return 31 letterwinners and nine starters from a 2008 team which won a school Division I record 11 consecutive games (12-4 overall), captured the America East title and competed in its third consecutive NCAA Tournament.

Four Retrievers have been named to the 2009 Inside Lacrosse Preseason Division I All America team. Senior defender Bobby Atwell (Dunkirk, Md./Southern) and senior midfielder Peet Poillon (Cranberry Township, Pa./Seneca Valley/Ohio State) were named to the second team, while senior attackman Ryan Smith (Fallston, Md./Fallston/CCBC-Essex) and junior midfielder Kyle Wimer (Lancaster, Pa./Hempfield) earned honorable mention honors.

2009 UMBC Men’s Lacrosse Schedule

February

            Sat. 14 at Delaware 1:00; Sat. 21 Rutgers 1:00; Sat. 28 Colgate 1:00

            March

            Tue. 3 Johns Hopkins UMBC (MASN) 7:30; Fri.  6 Princeton (WMAR/ESPNU) 8:00; Sat. 14 at Maryland (WMAR/ESPNU) 1:00; Sat. 21 Ohio State 1:00; Sat. 28 at Stony Brook* 2:30; Tue. 31 Towson 7:30

            April

            Sat. 4   Binghamton* 7:30; Sat. 11 at Albany* 1:00; Sat. 18 at Hartford TBD; Sat. 25 Vermont (WMAR/ESPNU) 1:00; Thu. 30 America East Semifinals TBD;

            May

            Sat. 2 America East Finals TBD

Schedule Notes: UMBC is scheduled to host eight regular season games for the first time since 1997… The Retrievers will meet Colgate for only the second time and the first time since 1992, when UMBC Hall of Famer Jason Smith scored a school Division I record 10 goals in a 20-6 win… The Retrievers’ last meeting with Princeton occurred in New Jersey at the 2006 NCAA Championships—the Tigers have not played at UMBC since 1990… After dropping eight consecutive contests to in-state rival Maryland, the Retrievers have captured two straight--the 2007 NCAA opening round game and last year’s regular season meeting… This year’s meeting with Towson will be the 40^th between the two teams and the Tigers are UMBC’s most frequent foe… TU leads the series, 26-13, but UMBC has won the last two meetings... UMBC is 23-4 in five America East Conference seasons and has won two of the last three league titles… The Retrievers enter 2009 with a 13-game home winning streak, the third-longest in the nation behind Duke and Notre Dame.